OTD: July 4, 1776 – July 4, 2019

Dear Citizens of Mount Vernon, New York,

My Fellow Americans,

I hope you all enjoyed reading our post MDFDE/USA: ‘MERCI’ MOUNT VERNON, N.Y.! Once Upon a Time… The Mount Vernon-Thionville Connection #MDFDEFriendshipMerciTrain70, dedicated to the commemoration of the 70-year relationship between Mount Vernon N.Y. and Thionville, France, this past May. A friendship made possible by the active participation of your city in the Friendship Train campaign in 1947; Mount Vernon’s adoption of Thionville, France, as a sister city via Operation Democracy in 1948; and the Thionville “Merci Train” gifts sent to Mount Vernon N.Y. in 1949. A renewed homage of gratitude to Mount Vernon complimenting our French-American-Italian project #MDFDEFriendshipMerciTrain70 celebrating the official 70th Anniversary of the “Merci Train” this year, ahead of our #MDFDEFriendshipMerciTrain75 for the Friendship Train’s 75th Anniversary in 2022…

See https://www.francaisdeletranger.org/en/2019/05/24/mdfde-usa-merci-mount-vernon-n-y-once-upon-a-time-the-mount-vernon-thionville-connection-mdfdefriendshipmercitrain70/

As today marks the 243th Anniversary of our Independence, our hard-earned rights to live in a free society that inspired millions and millions of immigrants to reach our shores looking for a bettter “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” so famously coined in our Declaration of Independence by one of our Enlightened Founding Fathers, Thomas JEFFERSON.

More determined than ever to get our country back on tracks… To fulfill the American dream and ideals set by our Father, Gen. George WASHINGTON, with the heroic Marquis de LAFAYETTE and the French Royal Navy fighting by his side to win the American Revolution…

What better way to be motivated than by reflecting on how, more than a century after their foundation, two of Mount Vernon’s oldest and most popular institutions — the Mount Vernon Public Library (1904) and the Boys & Girls Club of Mount Vernon (1912) — pillars of Mount Vernon community, are continuing to improve the lives of many Mount Vernon’s youngsters. How these two organizations, following the footsteps of our forefathers and the wisdom of their elders who contributed so heartily to the Friendship Train, are helping young girls and boys growing up in Mount Vernon today by teaching them first about their responsability of helping others in order to become successful leaders someday…

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/denzel-washington-helps-childhood-librarian-celebrate-her-99th-birthday/

And then, of couse, there was The Boys & Girls Club of Mount Vernon, home of Mount Vernon’s best and brightest young citizens, which Denzel always points out as crucial to his own development, leading to his interest in theater and movies, and his complete dedication to the cause by becoming national spokesman to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA).

Denzel WASHINGTON’s lifetime connection to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America is especially moving to me because of one very special person, Washington D.C. syndicated columnist, journalist and humanist Drew PEARSON, father of the Friendship Train.

Indeed, among all the civic and humanitarian causes Drew PEARSON strongly supported in his lifetime, not only was he responsible for the making and success of the Friendship Train…

As one of the founders of Big Brothers devoted to combating juvenile delinquency in America, which he served as long-time President of the Washington D.C., chapter of Big Brothers, Drew PEARSON, who led the spirit of the movement with his own concept of “One-Man-One-Boy relationship” as a means of graduating potential delinquent boys into responsible citizenship, using his miraculous gift for communicating the force of his own dreams to others to the end, was quietly able to lead many young people — countless little brothers helped by bigger brothers– out of the shadow into the sunlight.

And so as we reflect on the rich history of our country this 4th of July, I hope each one of you will find strength and comfort in celebrating the inspiring lives of all the extraordinary, generous people including our teachers, librarians, writers, journalists, actors and movie directors, who genuinely make America so great in all our diverse communities and abroad! All aboard!

With my kindest regards to you all,

Elisabeth Jenssen

    The “Train de la Reconnaissance Française” aka “Merci Train” (1949).

#GRATITUDE

#RESISTANCE

#FREEDOMOFTHEPRESS

#MDFDEFriendshipMerciTrain70

© The Official French-American Project entirely conceived by Ms. Elisabeth JENSSEN to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Merci Train (2019-2020) and the 75th Anniversary of the Friendship Train (2022). All rights reserved.

Chair, Elisabeth Jenssen

Honorary President: The Comte Gilbert de Pusy La Fayette

Contact: elisabeth.jenssen@francaisdeletranger.org

Some of the “Merci Train” gifts sent by Thionville, France, to the Mount Vernon Public Library, N.Y. in 1949. E.J. Photo © Leslie Alpert, Mount Vernon, NY Public Library. All rights reserved.

Links: https://dailyvoice.com/new-york/mountvernon/neighbors/denzel-washington-lives-up-to-promise-made-to-mount-vernon-librarian/69

https://www.inspiremore.com/denzel-washington-librarian-surprise/

http://westchester.news12.com/story/34911707/denzel-washington-gives-back-to-his-alma-mater 

“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

President John F. KENNEDY’s inaugural address in Washington D.C., January 20, 1961

Denzel Washington, le sacre d’une carrière

https://fr.euronews.com/2019/06/07/denzel-washington-le-sacre-d-une-carriere

http://https://www.francaisdeletranger.org/en/2019/02/03/mdfde-france-usa-merci-new-york-city-merci-new-york-state-mdfdefriendshipmercitrain70/